Physician Services Handbook
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Medicine and Surgery

General Information

Specialized Medical Vehicle Services

Wisconsin Medicaid covers specialized medical vehicle (SMV) services if the transportation is to and from a facility where the recipient receives Medicaid-covered services and the recipient meets the eligibility requirements. To be eligible for SMV services, a recipient must be indefinitely disabled, legally blind, or temporarily disabled and must have a medical condition that contraindicates safe travel by common carrier such as bus, taxi, or private vehicle.

If a recipient meets the eligibility requirements, a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse midwife should complete a Certification of Need for Specialized Medical Vehicle Transportation form, HCF 1197. The completion instructions and Certification of Need for Specialized Medical Vehicle Transportation form are located in Appendix 28 of this section for photocopying and may also be downloaded and printed from the Medicaid Web site.

If the recipient does not meet the criteria for SMV services, the medical provider should not complete the form. Instead, the provider should refer the recipient to the Medicaid transportation coordinator in his or her county/tribal social or human services agency.

Inconvenience or lack of timely transportation are not valid justifications for the use of SMV transportation. The presence of a disability does not by itself justify SMV transportation.

The medical provider gives a copy of the completed form to the recipient who then gives the form to the SMV provider. The medical provider does not need to keep a copy of the completed form on file, but he or she is required to document the medical condition necessitating SMV transportation in the recipient’s medical record.

Physicians are required to complete a new Certification of Need (CON) form upon expiration. For recipients who are indefinitely disabled, the CON is valid for 365 days from the date the medical provider signed the form. For recipients who are temporarily disabled, the CON is valid for the period indicated on the form, which must not exceed 90 days from the date the medical provider signed the form.

Medical providers must not complete the forms retroactively for SMV providers or recipients.

Providers may not charge recipients for completing the Certification of Need for Specialized Medical Vehicle Transportation form (fillable PDF, 125 KB). Wisconsin Medicaid will reimburse providers at the lowest level E&M CPT procedure code if the recipient is in the office when the form is completed and no other medical service is provided.

Refer to the Prescription Requirements chapter of this section for information about prescriptions for SMV trips exceeding one-way upper mileage limits.

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